365 Inspirations—270: Cooking in a Fully Equipped Kitchen—Gluten Free Baked Penne

We've been cooking at home to save money. We have been pretty good. I found $10 in the bottom of my book bag and went out for lunch with it and my husband took me out for lunch today, but other than that, every meal has been at home.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this is not like me. With dozens of food options right out my front door, it's hard to get motivated to cook at home.

Just as I was starting to lose my inspiration for cooking, we got a call to housesit.

We love housesitting at this particular place because it's down on Puget Sound in Seattle and we get to take care of four lovely cats! Another great thing is that the house is spread out and very much like a retreat for us.

And the kitchen inspired me to cook! It's fully equipped with every gadget you could ever need to cook with and there's plenty of space.

I brought over a bag of potatoes, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of olives, an onion, garlic, lettuce, brown rice penne and found a few veggies and cheese in the fridge here and I cooked the most amazing dinner!

I cooked baked Penne with tomato sauce and Italian seasoned vegetables and made a big green tossed salad.

Here's my recipe for the baked penne:

two potatoes peeled
one mushroom
half a zuchini
half an onion
garlic
one can of diced tomatoes
half can of black olives
cottage cheese
mozzarella cheese
Italian herbs or fresh herbs (I added rosemary, basil and chives from garden here and a little dried oregano)
brown rice penne (gluten free)

1. boil the penne al dente with a little salt and olive oil
2. saute potatoes, mushroom, zucchini, onion, garlic and italian herbs until veggies are cooked
3. pour sauteed veggies into an oiled shallow glass baking dish
4. drain pasta and rinse and pour penne into baking dish and mix with sauteed veggies
5. add cottage cheese and black olives and mix again
6. add diced tomatoes in a layer on top of penne mixture
7. sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese
8. bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees

Serve with a BIG tossed green salad. This was delish and not too heavy like most pastas. If you like it cheesy, you can substitute ricotta cheese for cottage cheese and add it to your liking.

I was just about to hang up the pot holders, but this new kitchen environment motivated me to cook something delicious with what I had on hand once again!

Do new environments inspire you to cook?

365 Inspirations—267: Cooking at Home

Brussel sprout, italian sausage, onion, and sweet pot soup

I'll be honest, it's not easy to eat every meal at home when you live in a place like Seattle. We have dozens of food options within a five mile radius—Ethiopian, Korea, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Chinese, Mexican, Indonesian and the list goes on.

With so many amazing choices right outside my door, who'd want to cook?

The thing is, I went on a trip to Peru and my next paycheck doesn't come for just over two weeks, so cooking at home it is.

And the menu has been lovely.

Today my husband cooked Korean rice cake soup for lunch and I made two crock pot dinners that have lasted us a loooong time. The weather is just starting to get a little cooler, so we've been making soups and warming foods.

We had chili for a few days and then we had chili potatoes with cheese and yogurt for sour cream with a nice green salad. I also made a 10-bean soup with anything I could find in the fridge—broccoli, carrots, sausage, onions, garlic, ginger. It was divine and we are still eating it.

Eating all meals at home is not easy with a busy schedule and tempting choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner within minutes from our house, but we are trying this out and it's been good.

How often do you cook at home and how often do you go out to eat? Do you have a good recipe to share?

365 Inspirations—17: Homemade, Fresh Juice

"One cannot think well, love well or sleep well, if one has not dined well."—Virginia Woolf

 My juicer is a wondrous thing! It's one of the BEST things I've ever purchased. Recently I'm not able to eat much refined sugar or grains due to digestive issues. Instead, I eat lots of fruits and vegetables. I also eat meat, so I guess I'm sort of on the Paleo or cave man diet, though I haven't read up much on these. My body needs the protein, but can't process grains and refined sugar very well.

Today I got out my trusty ol' juicer and while my husband napped on the coach, I made juice. Here's my recipe for the best tasting and healthiest juice ever:

1. half of a pineapple
2. one large beet
3. one large apple
4. 1/8-1/4 of a cabbage
5. two carrots
6. one orange
7. about one square inch of fresh ginger

You don't need to slice anything too much. Just get it to the size that it will fit in the juicer. I take the peel off the orange and pineapple, but the rest can go in whole.

This is absolutely delicious and so healthy. The pineapple has bromelain in it which is a good anti-parasitic ingredient. It is also good for the heart, immune system and is anti-inflammatory. Cabbage is also a veggie that helps with any inflammation and has lots of fiber.

The combination of the earthy taste of beets and cabbage with the sweet taste of the fruits is so delicious. Ginger is an excellent natural digestive aide.

After drinking this pure juice, my whole body was tingling and felt alive!

I was so inspired in the kitchen today and wanted to prepare a nice dinner for my husband before I have to go to the college and teach my evening ESL classes.

While juicing, I also made a huge Crockpot of curry, sausage and lentil soup.

I also roasted sweet potatoes in the oven in coconut oil and added a dash of curry and some sliced ginger.

All I need now is to throw together a big, green salad and TA-DA! Dinner!

I am a full-time teacher and blog every single day. On top of that, I am working on my second book. As busy as I am, I still hope I find time to exercise, meditate and prepare healthy meals at home. It's not always easy to find time to do this, but I feel so much better when I do.

Do you like to cook or make your own fresh juice at home? Do you have any recipes to share?